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Meet Albert & Me – Crochet Goodies

Before you all jump to the conclusion that I have a secret love child named Albert, let me introduce the guest of this post – Kate, the mother of Albert (below), and my #CraftBlogClub Secret Santa!

You might have seen a few #CraftBlogClub Secret Santa posts from me this year; I blogged about what I made for ZoFlo here and here, but I have forgotten to blog about one important element – what I received! In this post, I wanted to spend some time showing off the amazing crochet goodies that I received from my Secret Santa – Kate, from Albert & Me (formerly Beak Up Crafts).

As Kate has recently rebranded her blog to reflect a new lifestyle photography business venture, I thought it was a great opportunity to introduce Kate to you all, and her awesome work. Kate has kindly agreed to answer my burning questions, so find the Q&A below, interspersed with crochet.

First of all, how did you learn to crochet?

“I learnt crochet by watching American YouTube videos although it took me a while to realise that stitches were called by different names in the UK! I started to learn crochet as a form of mindfulness and figured that, as there was only one hook compared with two knitting needles, it would be easier to learn for someone uncoordinated like me!”

What other crochet projects are you working on at the moment?

“At the moment my hands are pretty full with my four month old baby, Albert, but I have started an amigurumi project to make a frog toy, but it’s very slow going.”

What tips or advice would you give to crochet newbs (like me)?

“If I had to give one piece of advice to someone who is just starting out in crochet it’s to be patient and try to get someone to show you, or be prepared to watch lots of YouTube videos in slow motion! Oh and don’t worry if your first granny square comes out as a circle. Learning tension (and how to do corners!) can be tricky, but it gets easier I promise!”

Are there any other crafts that you love?

“I love lots of different crafts and I used to blog about them at Beak Up Crafts. I’m a big fan of weaving and papercutting although I don’t really get much chance to do them now, although I have just started trying to learn how to knit. I think it’s so nice to be able to explore different crafts and see which ones give you a real sense of enjoyment and fulfilment, especially as an adult where time is so precious.

It’s important to carve out a bit of time for yourself and to feed your creative side. I believe everyone is creative in some way and in a world where we’re all glued to our phones and constantly digesting content online, it’s good to step away from it from time to time and make something using your hands and imagination. That sounds totally cheesy but I think it’s so true!”

Recently, you’ve rebranded your blog. What can you tell us about Albert & Me?

“I’ve recently rebranded my blog and moved to a new name and domain for a few reasons. I felt that the things I wanted to write about didn’t have a perfect fit with the craft focus of my old blog. While I still love making new things, especially crochet, becoming a mum and hanging out with Albert has totally changed my focus.

I found that I was taking so many photos of him as I didn’t want to miss a single bit of him growing up and wanted to remember it all (my memory is terrible!). I felt that lots of baby-related posts and photos were a few steps too far away from what I had been writing about, so it was time for a change.”

“It also gave me the idea for a new business venture – lifestyle photography for families, so the rebrand was geared towards that! Now there are lots of posts about photography with a dash of crafts and lots about our family life. I guess people and their interests evolve and it would have been false (and difficult!) not to reflect this on my blog and website.”

What’s your favourite thing about your day job?

“My day job is a sport journalist but I’m on maternity leave from that at the moment. I love sport and it’s great to cover it and write about it for a living, although most of my job involves weeding out mistakes and tidying up copy as a sub-editor. It can be pretty full on at times but it’s pretty exciting when a story breaks in the office and we get to the story first.”

If you could achieve one thing this year, what would it be, and why?

“Ideally this year I would love to build up my photography business Albert and Me and be able to go back to my job part-time, allowing me to spend more time with Albert.”

What would you say is your biggest challenge?

“I suppose the biggest challenge at the moment is getting my name out there and it reaching the people who would be interested in having a photo session, but I’m working hard in the spare moments I get and I’m hoping I get there.”